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A new spring football league will launch a week after Super Bowl LIII. Check it out for yourself: https://aaf.com/
Does it have a chance to succeed?
It would be a breath of fresh Spring air if it succeeded. However, due to the history (lack of success) of most all other start-ups, I certainly have my doubts!
The USFL had their best success when they played in the spring.. it was when they tried a head-to-head (vs. NFL) Fall schedule that their league collapsed.
2 initial things I noticed.. all the teams are in the South & West. And the Fleet's logo looks very similar to the old UFL' Virginia Destroyers logo..
It'd be nice to have a legit alternative to the NFL..
Huh.. They got Spurrier? I hadn't heard about that.
I'll say the same thing about them that I said about the XFL when it was announced.. If they operate as a feeder league.. They have a shot.
One of the smart things I see right now.. They have rosters in place. It's basically October, they don't play until April or so.. This is a fair shot better than the first go round of the XFL where they had about 2 weeks of practice before the first game. And, they're beating the XFL to the field by a year.
The USFL succeeded, briefly, simply because of the money they threw out. They got top players, so they could, for a time, compete with the NFL so far as quality. This league will not be able to do that. Accept it and play to that.
Minor league baseball is just as fun to go to as a major league game, even though you're not seeing the top stars.
I agree with Labonte18. If they keep this league as a spring, feeder league, it does have a shot at succeeding. Of course, NFL Europe eventually faded away and was basically just that - a spring feeder league. Of course, it was heavily supported by the NFL.
For a league set to kick off in 4 months there's not much publicity. There's been some media coverage about the Arizona Hotshots but only because a few people are offended by the name thinking it exploits the Granite Mountain crew. The league does have some financial backing with Ebersol and Polian and a few notable players in other roles. I'll give it a shot as long as ticket prices are reasonable.
good question can this league succeed. i think it can as long as they do the things necessary to succeed. leave it spring football, build the league up through advertising and expansion, slowly of course. and pick up the young players the NFL ignored or dropped from their rosters.
this will be competition for arena football in the end, so it should be interesting.
Good input by everyone here. This league is getting off to a good start IMO and the one thing I notice most is something that the American Football League did back in 1959 when they drew up the plans. That is start off with 8 teams. That's where the USFL made their first mistake, starting off with 18 teams was a problem right off the bat. And they saw five teams fold by the 1985 season.
Here's how the league stacks up with head coaches that have been named--
Atlanta Legends-Brad Childress
Birmingham Iron-Tim Lewis
Memphis Express-Mike Singletary
Orlando Apollos-Steve Spurrier
Arizona Hotshots-Rick Neuheisel
Salt Lake Stallions-Dennis Erickson
San Antonio Commanders-Mike Riley
San Diego Fleet-Mike Martz
The one thing I noticed right away when I pulled up their site-at the top of the page it states "Season tickets start at $75." I hope it DOES succeed.
Last edited by DOUBLE H; 10-27-2018 at 06:52 PM..
Reason: spelling, addition
Good input by everyone here. This league is getting off to a good start IMO and the one thing I notice most is something that the American Football League did back in 1959 when they drew up the plans. That is start off with 8 teams. That's where the USFL made their first mistake, starting off with 18 teams was a problem right off the bat. And they saw five teams fold by the 1985 season.
Here's how the league stacks up with head coaches that have been named--
Atlanta Legends-Brad Childress
Birmingham Iron-Tim Lewis
Memphis Express-Mike Singletary
Orlando Apollos-Steve Spurrier
Arizona Hotshots-Rick Neuheisel
Salt Lake Stallions-Dennis Erickson
San Antonio Commanders-Mike Riley
San Diego Fleet-Mike Martz
The one thing I noticed right away when I pulled up their site-at the top of the page it states "Season tickets start at $75." I hope it DOES succeed.
And.. Very little direct competition with the NFL there? Where is the Arizona team? Tempe, so.. That's overlap as is Atlanta.. as I recall, teams in Birmingham have historically done well attendance-wise with the various leagues.
This league seems sane.. Whether it succeeds or not I can't say, but.. They're doing things right, it appears.
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